To Spread her Wings
by OffColour
Summary: A LavixOC story. Please review and let me know how you like it. :
1. How It Began

CH 1 How it began  
The young girl lay in her bed clutching a stuffed bear, sleeping soundly. Her dark curls fell around her face in a tousled way that suggested that she was just too young to care about her appearance yet. Somewhere in the house a spark jumped and caught on a hearth rug. It wasn't the smell that woke her, it was the burning in her throat of the hot ash. She heard her mother scream and it punched through her daze. She stumbled from her bed and grabbed the door handle, searing her hand she jumped back and clung to her bear. The air in the small room became harder and harder to breathe the hotter it got, and the more it filled with smoke. Terrified she began to wail and backed closer and closer to her wall. Her back hit it at last. The wall! There was a window! She could get out and run for help. She stood up just as the glass shattered in around her head and a strong arm reached down and scooped her up and out the window. The air outside was cold and filled her lungs sweetly.

"My mommy and daddy! They're still inside!" She shrieked at the man holding her.

Before she could properly register what was going on she was in the soft breast of a woman who began to croon to her. She realised she was shaking and crying. When had she started crying? Where were her mummy and daddy? A fresh sob threatened at her chest.

"What's your name sweety?" the woman finally asked

"B-Bev." the little girl choked. The woman smelled like spices, but sweet at the same time. The smell calmed her.

"My husband, he went in there to get your parents, my son has gone to the village to get the people to put out the fire. Why do you live out here, nearly in the woods?" Her voice was kind and soft

"Daddy likes his privacy, he needs it to write."

"You're daddy's a writer?"

Bev's answer was cut off by the sounds of more screaming from her home and the sudden thundering of foot steps from the town. It seemed the whole village had come with buckets and sand and loud voices. There was a flurry of commotion and Bev quieted her crying for a moment. Soon however they dragged two limp forms from her home. She didn't understand. She couldn't understand. Where were her mommy and daddy? They needed to get daddy's typewriter right away. He would need that to finish the play.

"The typewriter! The typewriter! DADDY NEEDS THE TYPEWRITER!" Bev squirmed away from the comfort of the woman's arms.

She fell into the dirt and ran towards the house. Stumbling she turned to look what she had tripped on. An arm. An arm. An arm. Why was there an arm? Why was the arm wearing mummy's ring from her great auntie Hellen? An arm. Realisation hit her tiny consciousness like a sac of bricks. Daddy didn't need the typewriter anymore. Mommy didn't need aunty Hellen's ring anymore. Bev didn't have parents anymore. Or a home anymore. She fell next to her mother's body and wept. She was in some way aware of the motion around her, but it didn't matter. Mommy and daddy were eternal. Mommy and daddy had always been. Always. And now they were... She couldn't finish the thought. She was three years old and the concept of the finality of their death was not quite there.

Bev was starting to get very tired. She just needed to lay down for a little while and then mommy and daddy and her would have breakfast, and daddy would write the play, and mommy would bake the bread and maybe she would even get to help measure the flour. Bev laid down and curled into the crook of her mothers elbow and let the exhaustion take her.

Dreams were uneasy as she slept fitfully. She caught quick snapshots of the world as she floated between sleep and wakefulness.

"No other family"

The smell of sweet spices

"There is no other choice"

Extinguishing a candle.

"We have no obligation to this child."

A small light in the distance

Bev woke up in an unfamiliar room with a slightly familiar feel. The walls were plain grey stone and there was a small table in the corner. As her eyes scanned for a window she noticed a crucifix on the opposite wall. Realisation dawned on her, she was at the church. Suddenly a sick feeling tore through her as the memories of the previous night came to her. She sat numb for a moment and then as though some dam had been realised began to sob loudly. It only took a few minutes for someone to find her. It was the woman from last night. The woman picked Bev up and held her to her breast in the same manner, but there was nothing soothing this time. There was an aching between her shoulder blades. Everything felt so raw.

"Now sweety, is this anyway for a lady to act?" the woman said softly after some time. Bev was so taken aback by the question that she stopped crying and thought.

"No, I guess it isn't" she replied earnestly.

"Why don't you stop crying and let me brush your hair? I'm Denika, but you can call me whatever you like."

Bev nodded obiently and sat still in her lap as Denika brushed through her long, almost purple, and now dirty hair. This assuaged Bev for now and made her think of her mother. But not in a way that made her want to cry.

"You're going to come live with me and my family now, Bev," Denika said shortly but kindly, "you have no other family and we volunteered to take you since we were the ones that found your home."

Bev stared silently ahead for a moment.

"Where do you live?" she replied

"Wherever we please. We are travellers Bev, you will get to see the world with us. See many beautiful things and meet many interesting people." Denika's description was cut short by two men entering the room.

One was tall and burley with a bandage wrapped around his hands and arms. He had dark hair and eyes with a stern face. His skin was that of a man that worked outside, seeming to have dirt and hard work worn into it. He looked about thirty. The other was gangly and awkward looking and seemed to be about twelve. He had the same dark hair and eyes but his bellied the innocence of youth that years of hard labour had not jaded over. For the first time Bev really looked at the woman cradling her. She looked nothing like these men. Her skin was fair and so was her hair. Her eyes were green and exotic looking and her smile was wide and kind. Her eyes betrayed her pale skin truly showing the wear of her work, whatever it was.

"This is my husband, Orland. And my son Edmund." The man gave her a look that felt like a scolding but the boy took a few steps forward and got on one knee.

"I think your missing something" he said as he held out her stuffed bear.

The bear did not relieve the ache between her should blades, but it did ease some of the ache in her heart.


	2. The Light in the Distance

**CH 2 The Light in the Distance**

Bev learned pretty quickly about life as a traveler. No one was exempt from chores. At first they helped her keep her mind off of what had happened but really it was just daily routine by the time she was 17. She was turning 18 in just over a week and was getting excited. She would be able to drink legally now. Not that she hadn't already been drunk. On her twelfth birthday her brother had gotten her drunk. Mama and Orland weren't too happy when they stumbled in at nearly sunrise, but at least mama had been able to laugh about it later when Bev had been hung over and doing chores. Orland had just looked angrier than usual. Mama had given her a special drink later that tasted like sweat and it had made her feel unforeseeably better. Mama was a healer and Orland was a laborer, getting work where he could with Edmund. Their caravan had the same smell as mama had that night. Bev caught herself. She tried not to think about that night but it was hard when after having traveled so far they were back in the country side of England. Heading back towards London they would pass through her old village. But it didn't due to think of such things so she busied herself with the laundry. She took a beaded hair tie from around her wrist she had gotten in India and tied her hair away from her face before pulling her sleves up. Yawning she got back to the wash board the throbbing between her shoulder blades intensifying. It seemed whenever that spot got really sore she always had that dream about that stupid light. She caught herself again and threw herself more vigorously into the chores.

That night's dinner did not disappoint. They decided to ride to the nearest town and eat at the local inn rather than have Edmund catch a rabbit for stew. Bev was getting awfully tired of stew. Bev asked for fried eggs and toast which garnered some strange looks from other patrons. She didn't care, fried eggs were her favorite meal, anytime of the day... Maybe after paneer manchurian. Bev's mind was well away from all the placed that it did not due to settle in when she noticed the man from the other side of the inn dining hall was staring at her. It was beginning to make her uncomfortable but she hoped Edmund didn't notice. Even though he had been 12 when she had come into their family he had fully taken on the role of big brother which often led to scuffles in places like this. Men seemed to be drawn to her for the past few years. She looked older than she was and held herself like a lady as her mama had always taught her. She even wore special cream that ladies in China wore to make their skin more beautiful sometimes and this was one such night. Suddenly the man across the hall stood up and made his way towards them. Bev felt Edmund tense in his seat next to her. The man approached but looked more confused than lecherous.

"I do beg your pardon, ladies and gentlemen but I have a question for the young lady." He said cautiously. He seemed to sense Ed's hands clench under the table.

"I don't mean no harm but I am just wondering if you are Beverley Houghton?"

The bottom dropped out of her stomach. Why did this man know her?

"Yes..." Bev managed to reply. The man took his hat off.

"I was one of the boys that helped put out the fire at your home 15 years ago miss... I just recognized your... companions rather than you but thought I must be mistaken, but then I noticed your mother's eyes on ye'."

Bev stiffened in her chair and to her surprise it was her mama not her brother that reacted first.

"How dare you? You come over here and interrupt our nice _family_ meal to dredge up my poor _daughter's_ past right in front of this whole damned establishment. You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"Now miss, like I says, I didn't mean nothing by i-" Mama cut him short.

"Didn't mean nothing by it? Comin' over here calling her by her full name, sayin' she's got her _mother's_ eyes. You best leave this table before I let my son have a go at you."

The man backed off quickly realising that there was nothing for him to do to make it up and skulked out of the inn. Suddenly the egg and toast sitting in front of her was no longer appetizing.

"Mama, I'm going to go back to the caravan, okay?" She said quietly

"No sweety, we'll get a room upstairs tonight. A real bed for once, huh?" This didn't lift her spirits much, nor did the bar keep saying dinner was on the house.

An hour or so later after grabbing a book and her night clothes Bev was in her own little private bedroom, the kind she hadn't had since... Bev scrubbed her face a little bit harder and changed quickly. She couldn't wait to slip back into Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. She had read it a million times and it never got old for her. Books were a beautiful solace for her despite the fact that most of her life was the stuff that most people saw as adventures. Learning history in China, riding elephants in India, drinking beer in Germany, killing mountain goats in Mongolia, feeling the thrive of a city centre in France. In some ways she loved the life they lived and in other, smaller ways she wanted to put down roots. Maybe in London. Somewhere modern. She didn't want kids though. All the extra work they required put a special kind of strain on the spot between her should blades. Bev got into the bed. It was filled with down! What swank they had around here so close to London! Much more comfortable than her usual straw bed on the floor of the caravan. She opened her book and immersed herself

She was walking quickly down dimly lit halls. It was just ahead of her like always. The pale glow just around every corner. Always just too far away to tell what it is, never able to really catch up. Her pace quickened. Why did her back have to ache here of all places? Why did it grow more intense with every step she took closer to that damned light. Pain or not she broke into a run. Sprinting now. Almost there.

Bev woke with a gasp. She reminded herself it was only a dream. Restlessly she got up and went to the small sink across the room and wet her face little and looked up into the mirror. What was that? Just at the door. It couldn't be. It had only been a dream. That light had never come to her in her waking hours before. She spun around and it darted down the hall. Peeking her head out the door she saw it glowing from the bottom of the stairs, just out of her direct sight. Bev shut the door and pondered for a second and made up her mind. Dressing quickly but she readied herself to steal away into the night. She would have answers.

Down the stairs and around the corner. Out the front door of the inn and down the street back towards the dirt road they had ridden in on that led straight through to London. She saw it peeking out from behind buildings and around corners. It was just like her dream. The light entered the forest. Bev stood for a moment unsure and watched the light blink up ahead behind some leaves. Suddenly she tore after it. Not bothering to mind where she was going she simply hurtled herself at it. She kept running until she couldn't anymore. She was deep into the forest. There was no way home now. It was follow the light or bust. She kept going after a few more minutes to regain herself. Bev couldn't help but notice how her back was aching almost unbearably at this point but she kept going. After an hour or two she came upon another well sized town. Slightly larger than the one she had just been in. Bev continued her hunt through the streets and around corners until eventually she was led, almost without noticing to a nearly sheer cliff. Bev looked around her and couldn't see it. Reluctantly, almost knowing what she would see she looked up and saw way at the top, the tiny glint of her maddening little light. No choice! she thought to herself. Bev tied up her hair hitched up her dress and began to climb.

Reaching the top was no easy feat. She was sweating and panting and seriously wishing she had finished her dinner at the inn about half way up. But Bev would not be perturbed from her course. She would find her little light even if it killed her. Which right now, seemed all too possible. Rocks crumbled away from her hand and foot holes and the soles of her shoes were getting very worn on this harsh rock. Her hand slipped and she cut her right palm. Bev nearly screamed from the drop in her stomach as she looked down wondering if it might be best with an injured hand to head back. She could wait until morning and then ask for directions back to that little town she had been in last night. Her mama would get worried about her if she was gone too much longer. That would be a sore way to repay her mama's generosity and her brother's love. But seeing how far she had come only reaffirmed her to climb that last quarter of the way before the sun began to crest the horizon and take away her little light. She worked double time despite her injured hand. After nearly three hours of climbing and just as the sun was threatening to rise she made it over the top of the cliff. Exhausted, hungry and dehydrated her little light was pushed from her mind as she collapsed to the ground.


	3. Birthday

**CH 3 Waking up**

Vaguely aware of a heated conversation going on around her Bev's mind began to work again. Her eyes fluttered open and she began to register more details. She was lying in a bed. There was some kind of needle in her arm; there were several people in the room. People. She became much more aware and they noticed she was awake. There was a stern looking fellow with very long blue hair, a young smiling boy with grey hair, a warm looking tall purple haired man, a boy with bright red hair and an eye patch, and a girl with deep blue-ish green hair. The girl was the first to notice her revival.

"She's awake!" She said brightly. The blue haired man turned angrily away from the purple haired man and stalked out of the room.

Bev watched him go. That was when she saw it. That light was in this strange building. Suddenly she was very alert and she pulled the needle connected to a length of tube from her arm, she flung the light blanket that had been covering her back and ran from the room chasing the small pale light. The halls that she ran through were totally familiar to her even though she could not name the place that she was. She had run through these hallways many many times. Bev heard shouts come from the room behind her and the flurry of action as the group hurried after her. Bev kept running, hearing her bare feet slapping against the cool stone floor. Soon she came across a great pit that seemed to be nearly endless in the middle of the building, yawning and black. There was an inverted pyramid as an elevator of sorts and Bev climbed on. She could see the tiny prick of light somewhere deep in the pit and she trusted this strange machine not to drop her. Bev heard more shouts above her and worried if she may have alarmed them with her sudden, and rather rude, outburst. She felt guilty as she watched a second inverted pyramid begin to lower itself too. Bev reached the bottom first and the pain in her shoulders sent her sprawling to her knees. She wanted to be sick the pain was mounting so high. Suddenly a great silvery creature rose from even deeper within the pit than the elevator would take her. It spoke with the voice of a woman, but a woman that had known ages.

"I am Hevlaska. You stir a piece of innocence inside of me. Who are you, child?"

Bev could only master a gasp from her lips as the small light moved closer and closer to her. It was painfully slow. She could finally see what it was; it was so bright now. How did Bev ever think it was pale? It was a small box surrounded by two floating circles that seem to gyrate together. It came closer and Bev scream with the agony of her shoulder. She only wished it would end. What was going on? Abruptly she was lifted from her knees and into the air. Propelled by some unknown force that only sought to bring her nearer and nearer to the small bright light. Finally the two met in midair, the light touched her forehead and seemed to slip inside of her. Bev was only aware of sheer pain the likes of which she had never felt before. Surely her shoulders were on fire and could never be put out. She was dying. Bev heard fabric rip and suddenly the pain multiplied. She heard the splatter of blood and a warm sensation moving over the skin of her back. Presently she became aware of her own unearthly screaming filling the whole space. Filling her head. Surely filling the entire universe with the ungodly pain. Please God let it top she pleaded in her mind. Bev could see the pain, taste it, smell it, the only sense was pain and then blackness.

Bev pushed her senses away. She didn't want them. They had betrayed her. She wanted to remain in this blackness forever. To go back to that pain would surely mean death. The blackness stirred but she pulled away from the movement, determined to stay like this forever. There was no need to go back, she told herself, it's perfectly fine here.

It was the odd smell that first stirred Bev's mind back to life. The rusty raw smell of blood was all around her. She was lying on her stomach and didn't dare open her eyes. One of the first things she noticed was how heavy it seemed simply to be lying there. Like something had been placed on her back. Sound came next. She could hear light conversation and the swish of a stiff boot brush through water. Cautiously she opened her eyes. The red haired boy from before was sitting in front of her face holding something and brushing it. The brush was covered in blood. That's where the smell was from, she thought.

"Oh hey, look who's up?" he said gently. Bev made to move and he jumped a little, "Please don't move. Don't run away again. You're not in trouble. Do you know what happened? What do you remember?"

"Lavi, be quite for a moment. Let her get her bearings, she's just been through quite an ordeal." That voice was familiar. The teal haired girl from before. She walked around to the side of the bed Bev was facing, "Are you thirsty?"

Bev shook her head.

"Can I please sit up?" Bev asked and was surprised by how scratchy her voice was.

"Please no, you'll tear the scabs" the girl said with an apologetic look. This statement frightened Bev

"What do you mean scabs?" Her voice was rising with her panic.

"We can explain all that in a minute when my brother Komui arrives. I am Lenalee Lee, by the way." She extended her hand and Bev shook it awkwardly because of her prostrated position

"And I am Lavi. May I ask your name?" The red headed boy chimed cheerfully.

"Bev. Bev Houghton"

"Well Bev," Said a new voice from the door, "welcome to the Black Order. I am Komui Lee, the director. By some strange events you are now our newest Exorcist. Would you like me to explain now or do you need more rest?"

"I'm fine thank you, please continue." Bev replied flatly.

"Exorcists exist to fight the Millennium Earl and akuma. Akuma are tortured souls of the dead brought back by the unbearable grief of a loved one and are weapons against humanity. The Millennium Earl seeks to destroy all humans. Humans were given an ancient weapon to fight the Earl and Akuma called Innocence or God Crystal. It was passed to us with a prophecy. Now, you really are an exception to the rule. There are two types of accommodators, as we call them. Equiptype, and parasite type. Lavi here for instance is an equiptype because he wields a hammer. Our good friend Allen is a parasite type because he has an arm that is red and changes on command into a weapon. Most parasite types are born that way however. In fact for someone to become a parasite type has never happened before which is what has happened to you. When you came into contact with the Innocence you... for lack of a better word _grew_ a pair of rather angelic looking wings..." He paused for a moment, "There will be a few changes in your physiology of course, for example your appetite will be greatly increased."

"If she eats anything like Allen or Krory I'll be surprised. Where would she fit it all?" Lavi joked, and Bev smiled laxly.


End file.
